The charitable state of infosec

The hacker community raised a lot of money for two worthy causes this past weekend.

This tweet from my friend @grecs says it all:

RT @grecs: #ShmooCon #tshirtcharities raises $7,640 for Hackers For Charity and $5,010 for the EFF. Way to go! (via @shmoocon)

Conference-goers should be proud of those figures. ShmooCon organizers Bruce and Heidi Potter deserve thanks for giving the charities a nice, big spotlight.

I could go into deep detail about the history of Hackers for Charity and what they do today, but you’re better off hearing it from the founder himself: Johnny Long. He gave the following presentation during the conference:

Shmoocon 2011 from Johnny Long on Vimeo.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)is also well worth the support.

Here’s a bit about them, stolen from their website:

From the Internet to the iPod, technologies are transforming our society and empowering us as speakers, citizens, creators, and consumers. When our freedoms in the networked world come under attack, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the first line of defense. EFF broke new ground when it was founded in 1990 — well before the Internet was on most people’s radar — and continues to confront cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today. From the beginning, EFF has championed the public interest in every critical battle affecting digital rights.

–Bill Brenner